Things From Which We Are Not Yet Delivered (Rewritten)

Christ offers to free believers in this life not only from sinful actions, but from the sinful, selfish bent that comes with fallen humanity. Now we need to name some things that do come from sin — and can look a lot like sin — but don’t actually have its moral character. In other words, they aren’t on the list of things Jesus promises to remove for us in the present life. They are —

First: Spiritual warfare — which, of course, includes temptation. Jesus himself faced temptation. “As he is, so are ye in this world.” “The disciple is not above his Lord.” The Christian life is a long battle, and our weapons come from Christ’s promised presence, the power of his word, and the gift of his Holy Spirit. Still, we do insist that we can be delivered from the most distressing and dangerous kind of war: a civil war — a revolt against Christ raging inside the believer’s own heart. 

Spiritual Warfare

[While it is true] that Christ proposes to free the believer in this world not only from acts of sin, but from the sinful disposition inherent in fallen humanity, [it is also true that there are] certain ills which are the effects of sin, and wear its appearance, but have not its moral character, and are not in the catalogue of things from which Jesus promises us deliverance in the present life.

These [include:] Spiritual warfare.

[Spiritual warfare] implies temptations. Jesus warred with temptations. "As he is, so are ye in this world." "The disciple is not above his Lord." The Christian life is a long battle, for which we are to draw arms from the arsenal of Christ's promised presence and from the power of his word, and from the endowment of his Holy Spirit.